UAE Gets Ready to Support Cycling Team in Giro D’Italia

Emirati are sure to be tuned in to the 101st Edition of the Giro d’Italia from May 4-27 to watch UAE Team Emirates make an impact.

Though UAE Team Emirates’s Alexander Kristoff, the European champion from Norway who joined UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates from Team Katusha over the winter, is notably missing from the Giro d’Italia after much success with cycling winning streaks in Oman and Abu Dhabi this season, cycling fans will still have a valid reason to tune in: in his place, in fact, will be Fabio Aru, the renowned Italian professional road bicycle racer who will lead the cycling squad at his home event.

Rui Costa, the UAE Team Emirates leader and defending champion of the Abu Dhabi Tour, believes the team has a few riders capable to a stage victory: Jan Polanc, for example, who won stage four of the Giro d’Italia in 2017 on the summit of Mount Etna and who will be part of the line-up of the Emirati team this year.

Giro d’Italia is one of the most important cycling events on the calendar with thousands of supporters cheering for the ‘Pink jersey’ as the race progresses through the Italian boot. Many Italians will likely support the UAE Team Emirates with its 5 Italian riders to include, in addition to Aru, Diego Ulissi, Valerio Conti, Manuele Mori and Marco Marcato. Jan Polanc, Darwin Atapuma and Vegard Stake Laengen complete the line-up.

This squad is going to the Giro d’Italia with a huge desire to make an impact, with Fabio Aru as the national champion in the tricolor stripes on his UAE Team Emirates jersey, said General Manager Giuseppe Saronni. Other members that will contribute to the group include Joxean Fernandez Matxin, Marco Marzano, Mario Scirea and Paolo Tiralongo who will direct the team over the three weeks.

Fabio Aru will ensure that in Nibali’s absence from Bahrain Merida he’ll be a top local contender for Italy’s Grand Tour, affirms cyclingnews.com. He says he’s keen to make his mark, as he did in 2015, in the Giro d’Italia. We’ll have to wait and see. Go UAE Team Emirates!

To see the UAE Team Emirates’ roster of riders, visit http://www.giroditalia.it/eng/squadra/uae-team-emirates/, or UAETeamEmirates.com.

A steady presence in this type of cycling events fuel the unstoppable growth of biking in the region and the many amateurs wanting to become professional cyclists and prepare for challenging bike races, such as the UAE Tour in 2019.

Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit allows cyclers to go around the Formula One track. That’s right; you can ride around the 5.5km circuit as part of the TrainYas, StartYas, and GoYAS (Ladies only) programs. Access is free for all. Just fill out the registration form online to pick up your membership card to join in the fun. Meetup point: West Gate 20 entrance where you will be directed to Yas Central. No other place offers such a unique, safe and friendly training ground.